Apparatus for controlling humidity



Jan. 6, 1953 A. G. ELEGAR 2,624,420

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING HUMIDITY Filed Feb. 15, 1950 IN VENTOR A a l]lmflr v AUGUSTUS c. ELEGAR "i z,

I i I I M 0 BY v I ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 6, 1953 APPARATUS FORCONTROLLING HUMIDITY Augustus G. Elegar, Arlington, Va. ApplicationFebruary 13, 1950, Serial No. 143,872

1 Claim.

1 This invention relates to humidity controlling apparatus and moreparticularly to apparatus for removing moisture from or adding moistureto the air in a building.

The present application is a continuation-inpart of my applicationSerial No. 131,333, filed December 6, 1949, entitled Apparatus andMethod for Controlling Humidity, now abandoned.

As is well known, during the summer months ,in many parts of the countrythe air is very humid and when it contacts cool surfaces. condesationfrequently occurs. This phenomenon is particularly noted in cellars andother enclosed spaces having relatively cool walls. The air containing alarge amount of moisture contacts the walls, ceiling and fioors of suchrooms and deposits moisture thereon. The resulting dampness makes theroom uninhabitable for most purposes and also results in a great deal ofdamage due to the mildew on the furnishings and articles kept in theroom. The moisture also causes damage to the wallpaper and tends to rustthe pipes in the room.

It has been previously proposed to prevent such condensation andresulting damage by dehumidifying the air in the room. This has beenaccomplished in various ways. The most common method is to place one ormore containers holding a deliquescent material in the room in which theair is to be humidified. The air coming in contact with the material inthe container is subjected to some drying action, but, on the whole,such a method has been found to be unsatisfactory. It has also beenproposed to dehumidify 'the air by forcing the air by means of a fanthrough apparatus containing a deliquescent material. In such systems,the moisture absorbing substance has been supported upon shallow traysor pans arranged one above another in the apparatus, or else on screensor gratings supported by the walls of the apparatus. The forms ofapparatus proposed have been relatively elaborate and expensive tomanufacture. In some cases, it was necessary to take the apparatus apartin order to replenish the supply of deliquescent material therein. V

Although it is often necessary to dehumidify the air in a room toprevent the condensation of moisture, during other seasons it may becomenecessary to add moisture to the air in a room so as to control thehumidity thereof to an amount that is most healthy for the occupants ofthe room and also to prevent objectionable drying out of furniture andlike articles in the (room. Although many devices have been pro 2 posedto humidify the air in a room and many others to dehumidify the air, noapparatus is known wherein the air can be either humidified ordehumidified when desired by use of the same apparatus. Heretofore, aseparate humidifier and a separate dehumidifier have been required withthe resultant added expense and nuisance of two pieces of equipmentinstead of one.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a singleapparatus whichcanbe used for either dehumidifying or humidifying largevolumes of air rapidly and efliciently.

It is a further important object of the present invention to provideapparatus for, controlling the humidity of, air in which bodies ofdeliquescent or moist material make optimum contact with air to betreated.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus ofthisvtype in which the containers for the contact material are arrangedin a manner so as to permit ready access thereto for refilling.

A further object of the present invention. is to provide apparatus ofthis type in which a plurality of such containers are secured togetherso that they can be removed from the apparatus as a unit.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a view of the apparatus in side elevation, a portion beingshown in section; 7 I

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus with the cover removedshowing a modifiedmeth- 0d of attaching the bracing strips to thecontainers; Y

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the apparatus;

Figure 4 is a rear elevational view of the apparatus, and

Figure 5 is a detail of one of the cylindrical containers partiallyfilled with deliquescent material.

As shown in the drawings, the numeral 1 0 designates a casing mounted onlegs 9 having a vent opening I l in the front wall thereof and anopening l2 in the rear wall. A cylindrical casing [4 having a diametercorresponding to the diameter of the opening i2 is attached to the rearwall of the casing in surrounding the opening I2 therein. Mounted withinthe casing I4 is a'fan motor l5 attached to the casing l4 and supportedby metal spider I6. A fan blade I! is mounted on a shaft l8 which isactuated by the motor IS. The

fan assembly thus forces air into the casing I!) through the cylindricalcasing I 4 and opening I2, which stream of air is vented through thevent hole II in the front wall of the apparatus. The bottom wall IQ ofthe casing It slopes slightly on all sides to the center thereof where adrain outlet 20 is provided which can be controlled by a petcock 2 l.The top of the casing it! is covered by a cover member 22 which ishinged at 23 to the rear wall vof the casing IS. The cover '22 may thusbe pivoted about the rear wall of the casing to completely uncover thecasing Ill to permit ready access to the interior thereof.

Mounted within the casing Ulresting .on the bottom wall is an assemblyof cylindrical containers 24 each of which is formed of wire mesh screenor hardware cloth open at the top and having a screen bottom member 25spaced from the lower end of the container. The containers :24 arearranged within the casing IU in alternately staggered rows as shown inFigure 2 so that the .air blown'into the casing by fan I] will take atortuQUS path with a maximum of contact with the substance contained inthe cylinders before escaping through vent i i. The cylindricalcontainers may be readily made from rectangular strips of wire meshscreen, preferably A; inch screen. The bottom member 25 is made from apiece of screen out into the shape of a circle slightly greater than thediameter of the finished con- 7 tainerxwith the ends of the screen.wires extend- -ing outwardly about'the circumference thereof. Thecircular piece of screen is positioned perpendicularly to the plane ofthe'flat rectangular strip of screen andin a plane parallel to the topand bottom edges. The'rectangular strip is then rolled about thecircular piece of screen and the vertical edges are attached together inany suitablemanner, such as by bending and hooking together the looseends, thereby forming a cylinder. The cylindrical container 24 thusformed is open atone end and is closed near the other end by thecircular piece of screen which is retained inposition by the extendingfree ends of the wires of the screen as shown in Figure 5.

i All of the cylindrical containers are connected'together to form anassemblage by stiff bracing strips 26 at the upper, lower andintermediate portions so as to form a single unit which can be liftedout of the casing through the opening at the top when the cover 2.2 hasbeen opened. A

conyenient'form of attachment between bracing jstrips zfi and cylinders24 is by passing strips 255 into and out of the interstices in thescreenof the cylinders as shown'at 2'! in Figure 1. The parts of thecontainersand the ,stripsmay be soldered or welded together if morerigid connections are desirable as shown in Figure 2.

A deliquescent material 28, such as calcium chloride, may be chargedinto the plurality of cylindrical containers 24 through their open tops.The calcium chloride rests on the bottom member ziasindicated inFigure'5 and is thus spaced from thebottom wall E9 of the casing In. Themoisture contained in the air blown through the apparatus is removed bythe deliquescent material. The moisture thus eXtracted by the calciumchloride dissolves the chloride and the resulting solution drains fromthe containers 24 to the bottom of easing If}. A'tray or other suitablereceptacle 2.! may be provided for receiving solution from drain 20. 7

An overflow pipe 33) may be connected to and supported by drain -29.This overflow pipe may 39$? 1 equ tabl rece d fl il l mfil h 319' agotion fit, by screw threads or in any suitable manner such that theconnection is sealed against leakage of solution in the bottom of thecasing. Overflow pipe 3! extends upwardly to a point adjacent to butbelow the bottom members of the containers. When the overflow pipe isused petcock 2| may be left open. As solution drains from the containers2d to th bottom of casing lfi the overflow pipe causes a pool of thesolution to collect. This solution is normally in super-saturatedcondition and as time passes crystals of the salt are precipitated outof the solution ,onto the bottom of the casing to form a growing .cakeof the salt. Overflow solution passes through the overflow pipe, out thedrain and into tray 29. When a substantial cake of the salthas.collected on the bottom of the casing lll'overfiow' pipe is removed. Thecollected pool of solution is then drawn off through drain 26 into tray29. This exposes the cake of salt in thebottom of the casing to theair-being circulated through the casing and thissalt thereupon acts toremove moisture from the air in the same manner as the. deliquescentmaterial in the containers. Thus by-use .oftheoverfiow pipe thesuperssaturated condition of thesolution draining down from.thecontainers istaken ad vantage of to produceandrecover-salt forsubsequent use. Petcook 21 can be used .for the same purpos whereoverflow 3!] is .omitted but the deposition of the crystals in thebottom .of the casing tends to stop up drain 29 so that-0n openingpetcocl; 2| drain 25! must be cleared. In either .case whether the poolof liquidis collected in the bottom of the casing by means of theoverflow pipe Silor by means .of petcockil, the pool of liquid itselfacts to removeadditional moisture from th .air passing through thecasing. Where the overflow pipe is used this results in the additionalfeature that .the layer of water on top of the pool and therefore thatpart of thepool which drains off through the-overflow pipe is in lesssaturated condition andmay be run off to a sewer without danger ofclogging of the. sewer by crystallization of the salts.

When it is necessary to'rep lenish .the deliquescent substance 28, theoperation is readily accomplished by swinging the cover 22 up .and awayfrom the casing about the hinges 23 and pouring the salt crystals intocontainer -24 through their open tops. I

Provision may be made for deodor-izing the air by passing it throughactivated charcoal as it passes .into .or out of the casing l-ii.Reference numeral 31 indicatesgenerally such a-means in association withthe .vent l I. A flange 3'2 surrounds the inside edge of the ventopening ll. Removably fitted on this flange is a receptacle formed .ofone-eighth inchmesh wire which is filled with activated charcoal. Thisreceptacle carries a friction lip 34 engaging the flange 32. Stretchedacross vent ll! and held in place between flange 32 and friction lip 34is a sheet of spun glass cloth 35. This structure associated with ventll removes odors from the air and by means of spun glass cloth sheet 35further filters dirt out of the air.

When the containers 24 have been filled with th deliquescent substance,and" the cover 2-2 has been closed tightly, the apparatus is ready todehumidify the air in a room, petcock 2| is closed and the fan isstarted. The air in the room is thus circulated through the apparatusentering through casing M at the rear thereof and passing in contactwith the deliquescent "aerrgezo The dried air is blown from the casinginto the roomfcreating a continuous circulation of air.

The air thus continually circulated through the room and in turn throughthe apparatus causes all parts of the room to be contacted by dried air,thus rapidly evaporating any moisture on the walls, floors or on anyarticles in the room to which the air has access. When the air isrecirculated through the apparatus, the moisture thus evaporated intothe airis removed by the repeated contact of the air with thedeliquescent substance. Since this process is continuous as long as thefan operates, the moisture content of the air within the room is reducedto the desired level by control of the fan. The solution collecting in,the bottom of the apparatus does not contact the deliquescent materialin the containers 24 since the latter is retained above the bottommembers 25 and is thus above the level of the pool of solution. Thesolution can be drained at intervals or allowed to drip continually intoa tray or other container 29 placed below the drain pipe 20. Whennecessary, the deliquescent material can be replenished as describedabove. Containers 24 have been shown and described as being ofcylindrical form with their axes vertical. This form, together with thestaggered relationship of the containers, causes maximum turbulence ofthe air passing through the casing and therefore, maximum contact of theair with the salt held in the containers. However these containers maybe of any suitable shape with their axes in vertical or horizontalplanes so long as the containers are staggered to cause the air passingthrough the casing to be forced against one and then another of thecontainers without any path being open to air passing directly throughthe casing without contacting salt in a container. Thus the assemblageof containers is always so formed that there is no straight line pathbetween the entrance end of the casing and the exit end of the casingwhich does not pass through at least one container.

The apparatus of the present invention can be used also as a humidifierand air cleaner. Most heating systems do not furnish moisture to the airand have a tendency to reduce the moisture content in a room to a pointwhere the air is so dry as to be injurious to occupants and furniture.To increase the humidity of the air in a room, the present apparatus canbe utilized by substituting an absorbent substance such as cotton orcloth for the deliquescent material, and by filling the bottom of thecasing I B with water to a level such that the absorbent material is incontact therewith and thus soaks up the water in the manner of a wick.As the air is blown through the machine, its water content is restoredby the evaporation of the water soaked up into the absorbent materialwhich presents an extended moist surface to which water is continuouslysupplied by capillary attraction in the absorbent material. a

The conversion of the apparatus from a dehumidifier to a humidifier iseffected by changing the humidity affecting material and is readilyaccomplished by removing the deliquescent material from the containers24 and substituting the absorbent material such as cotton. When waterhas been added to the casing In to the proper height, the apparatus isready for operation as a humidifier. In order to make all the water inthe bottom of the casing available for .thi's purpose absorbent canbeinserted in that partiof the container below bottom 25 or the 1assembly of containers can be inverted.

It should be noted that when the apparatusis usedto reduce the humidityof air or to increase the humidity thereof, the air flowing through theapparatus contacts a wet surface, either the deliquescent material inthe first case or the absorbent material in the second. This has theeffect of washing the air since dust particles and other foreign bodiesadhere to the damp surface. The air leaving the apparatus is thusdust-free. The fact that containers 24 are rigidly interbraced andconnected together makes it possible to remove them as a unit to cleanout the dirt removed from theair. 7 v

It will be apparent that so long as the humidifying action is notdesired, any suitable means may be utilized to maintain the salt in thecon tainers 28 spaced above the pool of solution collecting in thebottom of easing l0 and not necessarily the means provided by spacingbottom walls 25 above the lower ends of containers 28. It follows ineach case that the axes of containers 28 need not necessarily bevertical so long as the staggered relationship is maintained asdescribed above.

If desired, instead of using air purification means 3|, one or more rowsof the containers can be filled with an odor absorbent means, such asactivated charcoal, to remove any odorous impurities from the air.

The apparatus described herein is particularly useful in basements, gameand recreation rooms, record and storage vaults, stock rooms,warehouses, and the like to regulate the humidity therein. In normalclimates during the winter when artificial heating systems are in use inbuildings, particularly homes, the air is too dry for human comfort. Useof the present invention will raise the relative humidity to that pointwhere a much lower ambient temperature will result in comfort to humansbesides preventing the drying out of furniture and articles in thebuilding.

Obviously, the fan can be started up and stopped in response to therelative humidity of the surrounding air by the use of any well-knownhygrometer control.

I claim:

Apparatus for controlling and affecting the humidity of air comprising acasing having a bottom, side walls and a top, means for holding a bodyof liquid in the lower part of the casing and establishing a maximumliquid level therein, an air entrance opening in one side wall, an airvent in an opposed side wall, the air entrance opening and the air ventbeing above the maximum liquid level, a plurality of elongated spacedforaminous containers adapted to contain humidity affecting material,the longitudinal axes of the foraminous containers being parallel and.vertical, each foraminous container extending substantially above theair entrance opening and air vent and extending downwardly toward thebottom of the casing to a point substantially below the air entranceopening and the air vent, the foraminous containers being spaced fromone another and arranged in rows extending transversely to the path ofair flowing between the air entrance opening and the air vent withcontainers in adjacent rows staggered so that air flowing between theair entrance opening and the air vent will impinge on the humidityaffecting material in a plurality of foraminous containers, a

r Ian ior'circulating air through the casing from the air entranceopening to the air vent, each foraminous container having an open endfor filling the container with humidity affecting material and ahumidity affecting material supporting member extending across theforaminous container in the lower portion thereof, but above the maximumliquid level, and means unattached to the casing interbracing andrigidly interconnecting the foraminous containers so as to combine theindividual containers into an invertible unit.

AUGUSTUS G. ELEGAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number Number 8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Drake Dec. '2, 1913 PaulJune 8,1920 Evans Oct. 9, 1923 'Shilstone July 23, 1929 Robson June'22,19.43 Morris May 23, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great BritainAug. '28, 1924

